The MICS is an international household survey programme developed by UNICEF. This survey provides up-to-date information on the situation of children, women and men, and measures key indicators that allow countries to monitor progress towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and other internationally agreed upon commitments. The 2012 MICS was carried out in the Republic of Moldova (excluding Transnistrian region) as part of the fourth global round of MICS surveys and implemented by the National Centre of Public Health of the Ministry of Health in collaboration with the National Bureau of Statistics, the Scientific Research Institute of Mother and Child Health Care, the Ministry of Labour, Social Protection and Family, the Ministry of Education, the National Centre for Health Management, and the National Centre for Reproductive Health and Medical Genetics. Financial and technical support was provided by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), with contribution of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation and the World Health Organization. The survey provides a solid base of comparable data and constitutes a valuable support in developing policies and strategies in the areas of health, education and well-being of families and children in the Republic of Moldova.

1. Monitoring
the situation
of children
and women
Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey
Republic of Moldova*
, 2012
key findings

 
*Excluding Transnistrian region
Ministry of Health
of the Republic of
Moldova
National
Public Health
Centre

2. 1
MULTIPLE INDICATOR CLUSTER SURVEY (MICS)
SURVEY BACKGROUND
The MICS is an international household survey programme developed by UNICEF. This survey provides
up-to-date information on the situation of children, women and men, and measures key indicators that allow
countries to monitor progress towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and other internationally
agreed upon commitments.
The 2012 MICS was carried out in the Republic of Moldova (excludingTransnistrian region) as part of the fourth
global round of MICS surveys and implemented by the National Centre of Public Health of the Ministry of Health
in collaboration with the National Bureau of Statistics, the Scientific Research Institute of Mother and Child
Health Care, the Ministry of Labour, Social Protection and Family, the Ministry of Education, the National Centre
for Health Management, and the National Centre for Reproductive Health and Medical Genetics. Financial and
technical support was provided by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), with contribution of the Swiss
Agency for Development and Cooperation and the World Health Organization.
The survey provides a solid base of comparable data and constitutes a valuable support in developing policies
and strategies in the areas of health, education and well-being of families and children in the Republic of Moldova.
Fieldwork period: April 17-June 30 2012
Household Questionnaires: 11,354; Response rate: 97.4%
Questionnaires for Individual Women (age 15-49): 6,000; Response rate: 89.3%
Questionnaires for Individual Men (age 15-49): 1,545; Response rate: 77.0%
Questionnaires for Children Under Five: 1,869; Response rate: 96.3%

3. 2
EDUCATION
School readinessPRESCHOOL ATTENDANCE
of children attending first
grade of primary school
had attended preschool
education programmes
in the previous year
93%
71%
of children 3-5 years
(36-59 months) of age
attend early
childhood education
programmes
88%
93%
91%
64%
95%
82%
90%
50%
Poorest UrbanUrban BoysRichest RuralRural Girls
Children from poorest families have almost
two-times fewer opportunities than the
richest to attend early education programmes.
School readiness is high.The majority of
children have appropriate knowledge and
skills to begin primary school.

4. 3
99.1%
98.6% 98.6%
Primary school attendance
97.8%Poorest
98.8%Richest
grades
I-IV
98.7%
of children are enrolled
in primary education
98.9% 98.4%
urbanboys
urbangirls
GirlsBoys
Ruralboys
Ruralgirls
98%
Primary school attendance is almost universal, as nearly all children of primary school
age are enrolled.
EDUCATION

5. 4
Lower secondary school attendance
Poorest
grades
V-IX
96.3%
of children are
enrolled in secondary
education
95.5% 97.1%
urbanboys
urbangirls
GirlsBoys
Ruralboys
Ruralgirls
96.7%
90.9%
Richest 97%
97.8%
92.7%
95.5%
Attendance rate is lower for poorest children and for urban boys.
EDUCATION

6. 5
CHILD DEVELOPMENT
47%
RuralUrban
father’s engagement in Childhood learning
of children 3-5 years (36-59 months) of age were engaged with
their father in learning and school readiness activities
40%
60%
Richest
71%
Poorest
29%
Children from poorest families and from rural areas have fewer chances to learn with their fathers.

7. 6
availability of Learning materials andtoys
82%
87%
PoorestRichest
68%
75%
RuralUrban
68%
67%
60%
33%
Urban Rural Richest Poorest
68%
68%of children under
5 years have
3 or more books
of children under 5 years
have 2 or more types of
toys or playthings
Whiletoys and playthings are available in the majority of households, learning materials are
missing. Only onethird of poorest families have 3 or more children’s books at home.
CHILD DEVELOPMENT

8. 7
of children 3-5 years (36-59 months) of age
are developmentally on-track in literacy-
numeracy, physical, social-emotional and
learning domains.
Early child development index score Literacy-numeracy: Children are
identified as being developmentally
on-track based on whether they can
identify/name at least ten letters
of the alphabet, whether they can
read at least four simple, popular
words and whether they know the
name and recognize the symbols
of all numbers from 1 to 10. If at
least two of these are true, then the
child is considered developmentally
on-track.
Physical: If the child can pick up
a small object with two fingers,
such as a stick or a rock from the
ground and/or the mother/care-
taker does not indicate that the
child is sometimes too sick to play,
then the child is regarded as being
developmentally on-track in the
physical domain.
Social-emotional: Children are
considered to be developmentally
on-track if two of the following are
true: If the child gets along well with
other children; if the child does not
kick, bite, or hit other children and;
if the child does not get distracted
easily.
Learning: If the child follows
simple directions on how to do
something correctly and/or when
given something to do, is able to
do it independently, then the child
is considered to be developmental-
ly on-track in this domain.The poorest children and those living in rural areas show
poorest performance.
84%
Urban
Poorest
Rural
Richest
87%
75%
82%
87%
Physical
99%
Literacy-numeracy
30%
79%
Social-Emotional
99%
Learning
CHILD DEVELOPMENT

9. 8
child health
Rural
Urban
82%
93%
of children 15-26 months
of age were vaccinated
against preventable
childhood diseases
VACCINATION
89%
of children were
breastfed within one
hour of birth
BREASTFEEDING
61%
36%
urban
urban
Rural
Rural
59%
62%
of children 0-5 months
of age were exclusively
breastfed
40%
30%
2 out of 10 urban children were not vaccinated
against preventable childhood diseases.
Less than half of children 0-5 months of age
are exclusively breastfed.

10. 9
6%
Nutrition
Stunted Overweight
Poorest Poorest
Richest Richest
of children under age 5
are stunted (their height is
too short for their age)
of children under age 5 are
overweight (their weight is
too high for their height)
5%
Children from poorest quintile are nearly
four-times more affected by stunting than
children from the richest quintile.
Children from richest families aretwo-times
more likely to be overweight than those from
the poorest families.
11% 3%
3% 7%

11. 10
urban Rural PoorestRichest
61% 68%34% 23%
use of Iodised salt
of households use
adequately iodised salt
44%
The Poorest families and those living in rural areas are less likely to use iodised salt.
Nutrition

12. 11
health
anaemia
of women 15-49
years of age are
anaemic
Rural Rural
Poorest Poorest
22% 16%
20% 15%
28% 24%
31% 32%
of children 6-59
months of age are
anaemic
urban urban
Richest Richest
26% 21%
The Poorest women and those living in
rural areas have higher risk of being
anaemic.
Children from the poorest quintile have
twotimes higher risk of being anaemic
than those in the richest quintile.

13. 12
TUBERCULOSIS
Knowledge of symptoms
of women and men 15-49 years of age know at
least one specific symptom of tuberculosis (TB)
Attitudetowards people
living withTuberculosis
of women and men 15-49 years
of age prefer to keep in secret
that a family member has
tuberculosis
Compared to women, men aretwo times less
aware of two of the key symptoms of TB,
namely coughing for several weeks and fever.
More than athird of the population prefers to
hide the fact that a family member hasTB.The fear
of stigma is higher among women.
Coughing
for several
weeks
Fever Blood in
sputum
Tiredness /
fatigue
Weight Loss
20%
23%
27%
12%12% 12%
22%
11%
9% 10%
94%
42%
30%
92%

14. 13
HIV/AIDS
attitudestowards people living
with HIV
of women and men age 15-49 years agree with at least one
accepting attitude
of women and men age 15-49 years express
accepting attitudes on all four indicators
HIVtesting during
antenatal care
of women were offered an HIV test,
tested for HIV and given the results
during the antenatal period
83%
Accepting attitudes include:
• Willing to care for a family member sick with AIDS
• Would buy fresh vegetables from a vendor who is HIV positive
• Thinks that a female teacher who is HIV positive should be
allowed to teach in school
• Would not want to keep HIV status of a family member a secret
87% 88%
3%
The highest level of stigma is present among poor and
rural population.
four in five pregnant women were
tested for HIV and given the results.

15. 14
HIV/AIDS
Comprehensive knowledge
about HIVtransmission
amongyoung people 15-24
years of age
use of condoms among
young people 15-24years
of age
Comprehensive knowledge includes knowledge about the main ways of HIV prevention (having only one
faithful uninfected partner and using a condom at each intercouse, who know that a healthy looking person
can be HIV positive, and who reject the two most common misconceptions).
15-24 years of age who had sex with more
than one partner in the last 12 months
used a condom
15-24 years of age have comprehensive
knowledge about HIV transmission
36% 49%
28% 68%
of women
of women
of men
of men
Comprehensive knowledge among young people is low. Only onethird of young people is
well informed about the main ways of HIV prevention.

16. 15
TOBACCO USE
Smoking on one or more
days inthe past month
12%
8%
more than 20 cigarettes
per day
15-49 years of age who smoke had more
than 20 cigarettes in the past 24 hours
of women 15-49 years
of age smoked
of men 15-49 years of
age smoked
of menof women
47%
48%
Half of men age 15-49 years are current smokers, and of those inthe poorest quintile, 2 in 3
smoke. Women are 6 times less likely than men to smoke but contrary to men,the richest smoke
the most.
Poorest
Poorest
Richest
Richest
6%
43%
15%
63%

17. 16
ALCOHOL USE
45%80% 22%57%
of young menof men of young womenof women
Alcohol use on one or more
days inthe past month
First use of alcohol for
adolescents 15-19years of age
15-49 years of age had at least one drink of
alcohol on one or more days in the past month
started to drink alcohol before the age 15
2 in 10 female adolescents started drinking
alcohol before age 15, compared to 5 in 10
male adolescents.
More than half of the population uses
alcohol.

18. 17
REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH
Use of contraception
of women 15-49 years of age currently married
or in union are using a modern contraceptive
method
Modern methods include:
• Female sterilisation
• Intrauterine dispositive
• Injectables
• Pill
• Male condom
• Diaphragm/foam/jelly
• Lactational amenorrhoea method
7.5%
Adolescent PREGNANCY
of adolescent girls
15-19 years of age
have already had a
birth or are pregnant
with their first child
Unmet need for contraception
of women 15-49 years of age currently married
or in union either wish to wait at least 2 years
for their next birth or say that they want no more
children, but are not using contraception
42% 9.5%
34%
47%
Poorest
Richest
Less than half of women 15-49 years of age are using a modern contraceptive method.

19. 18
REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH
obstetric care antenatal care
of births were delivered
in public health
facilities and assisted
by skilled personnel
(doctors and nurses)
of mothers received
antenatal care at least four
times during pregnancy
+
PoorestRichest
95%
99.6%
Birth registration
of children under age of 5 had their birth registered with civil authorities
86%97%
99%

20. 19
WATER AND SANITATION
of the population uses
improved sources of
drinking water
HandwashingDrinking Water
of the households have
water available for
handwashing
of the households have soap
or other material available for
handwashing
Improved sources of water:
• piped water,
• tube-well/bore-hole,
• protected well,
• protected spring,
• bottled water
One fifth of the rural population does
not use improved sources of drinking water.
86%
95%
95%
Rural
Urban
81%
96%

21. 20
Use of improved sanitation
Improved sanitation:
• flush or pour flush to a piped sewer system,
septic tank or pit latrine,
• ventilated improved pit latrine,
• composting toilet
WATER AND SANITATION
of the population
use improved
sanitation
of the population
use flush toilet
facility70% 34%
Rural
Rural
Urban
Urban
61%
9%
85%
75%
Use of improved sanitation facilities varies greatly between cities and villages,
particularly for flushtoilet.

22. 21
ACCESSTO MASS MEDIA
of women and men 15-49 years of age
watchTV, listen to the radio and read
newspapers at least once a week 
of women and men 15-49 years of age watch
television at least once a week
32%
93% 92%
Women Men
Women and men from the poorest
quintile are much less likely to get
information from mass media. TV is the most popular media in Moldova.
Poorest
Poorest
Richest
Richest
14%
17%
39%
45%

23. 22
USE OF COMPUTERS AND INTERNET
of women and men 15-24 years of age used a computer at least once
a week during the last month before the interview
of women 15-24 years of age used the internet
at least once a week during the last month
of men 15-24 years of age used the internet
at least once a week during the last month

38% 34%
98% 99%
90% 92%
73% 69%
PoorestPoorest
UrbanUrban
RuralRural
RichestRichest
76%
81% 78%
While the average use of internet among young people is relatively high, there are huge discrepancies
between the poorest and the richest. Only onethird of poorestyouth are using the internet.
Use of internet

24. 23
LIFE SATISFACTION
of young women
15-24 years of age are
satisfied with their life
46% 52%53% 53%53%
56%
32%
42%
of young men
15-24 years of age are
satisfied with their life
Richest RichestUrban UrbanRural RuralPoorest Poorest
50% 53%
Only onethird of poorest young women are satisfied with their life.
Domains of life satisfaction include: family life, friendships, school, current job, health, living environment,
treatment by others, the way one looks and the current income.

25. 24
Child PROTECTION
child discipline methods
of children 2-14 years of age experienced a
violent method of discipline
of children 2-14 years of
age were subjected to
psychological aggression
of children 2-14 years of
age were subjected to
physical punishment


 76%
69%
48%
Parents do not know how to discipline their children without violence and need to be
educated on positive discipline.
of children were disciplined using non-violent
methods
Even though the practice
of violent discipline
is common, only 15
percent of adults believe
that a child needs to be
physically punished.
22%
15%

26. 25
child discipline methods
Physical punishment
(children age 2-14 years)
any violent discipline method
(children age 2-14 years)
2-4
years
years
years
5-9
10-14
Psychological aggression Physical punishment
52%
73%
37%
68%
66%
59%
Child PROTECTION
51% 82%
45% 74%
Boys Poorest
Girls Richest
Boys are slightly more likely to be
physically punished.
The likelihood ofviolent discipline to children age 2-14
years is higher among those living in poorest families.
Theyounger the child is, the more likely s/he is to be physically punished.

27. 26
Child PROTECTION
of women 15-49 years of
age believe a husband is
justified in beating his wife
or partner for any reason
Attitudestowards domestic violence
of men 15-49 years of age
believe a husband is justified
in beating his wife or partner
for any reason
Urban
Rural
Secondary
education
Higher
education
Richest
Poorest
Urban
Rural
Secondary
education
Higher
education
Richest
Poorest
9% 10%
13% 15%
15% 18%
5% 5%
22% 25%
6% 7%
11% 13%
Women and men justify violence in a similar way.

28. 27
MIGRATION
of children have at least
one parent living abroad
of children have both
parents abroad
Rural
Urban
Children from rural areas are more likely
to live without one or both parents
due to migration. Migration affects especially middle-class children.
21% 5%
17%
23%
PoorestRichest Middle
17%
26%
12%
Rural
Urban
6%
4%

29. 28
Children’s living arrangements
Living with both parents
Living with mother only (father is alive or dead)
Living with father only (mother is alive or dead)
Not living with a biological parent
63%
4%
22%
11%
One in Four children in Moldova lives with her/his biological mother or father only.

30. United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)
131, 31 August 1989 Street
United Nations House
Chisinau, Republic of Moldova
Telephone: (+373) 22 220034
Facsimile: (+373) 22 220244
E-mail: chisinau@unicef.org
Web: www.unicef.md
© UNICEF Moldova/2014